How to Be Part of the Sustainable Movement Without Going Broke
How to Be Part of the Sustainable Movement Without Going Broke
Let’s talk about how to be part of the eco-movement and live an eco-friendly lifestyle. Have you ever asked yourself, “How can I be more sustainable in my day-to-day life and make more sustainable choices?”. We all know that we should be more sustainable, but what does it mean to go green? If you are anything like me at all (I’m betting you are), you probably have bought a reusable water bottle or two. You also tried to use reusable bags at the supermarket a few times. Maybe you have even tried cutting down on the number of single-use products completely. All of those habits helped make you feel like you were doing your part to live an eco-friendly lifestyle and go green. That’s because being sustainable is not just about saving money, although it is a bonus. Supporting sustainability is about saving the earth for future generations and making it a better place for you and your loved ones to live now in the present.
Some people think that it is impossible to live a sustainable lifestyle and maintain an eco-friendly home. They make excuses that a green lifestyle is too expensive, or they don’t know where to start, or that they won’t be able to find the resources they need to make their lives more sustainable.
Surprisingly, sustainable living is often more affordable than living an unsustainable lifestyle. It’s about being mindful about what you buy, how you use it, and how much of it you need. For example, if you’re trying to cut down on your carbon footprint and reduce waste at home, then reusing glass containers to store food instead of using disposable plastic ones will help you save money while helping the environment!
We will dive into the many different tips for going green, ways to live a greener life and we will cover the many benefits for both environmentalism and for your health as you decide to make the switch to more sustainable living. But before we go any further, let’s really break down the word “sustainability” and what it truly means for our sustainable planet and our lives.
What is sustainability?
A sustainable lifestyle is a way of life that seeks to minimize the negative impacts of human activity on our planet. It’s about making sustainable choices that help ensure the future of a sustainable planet, and it doesn’t necessarily mean giving up everything you enjoy or even having to spend a lot of money. Sustainability is the idea of going beyond simply using less of things and looking for ways to eliminate the need for those things. This is true for everything from sustainable food, to finding more sustainable energy sources, to how we live our lives day-to-day. There are a lot of reasons you should switch to being more sustainable — whether it’s better for the planet, for your budget, for your health, or for an improved lifestyle.
To live a sustainable lifestyle is to make sure that the things you do, buy, and consume are not going to negatively impact the environment and leave it unable to sustain life.
There are many ways to implement a more green lifestyle that works for you while being mindful of environmentalism. For example, you might choose to buy local produce so that fewer resources have to be used to get it from farm to table. You might also choose to purchase reusable items instead of single-use ones. We’ll dig into these ways further.
When you’re considering what items you need and want in your eco-friendly home, think about how long they’ll last and whether they’ll need replacement multiple times over time. Think about the materials they are made of, how they were sourced, how they were treated, and the impact they may even have on your health. Invest in items with longevity and with eco-friendly materials that are gentle to our sustainable planet, and kind to your health. So, let’s dig in on how to be part of the sustainable movement.
How living sustainably can benefit and impact your life
Living a sustainable lifestyle is not only good for the world but also good for you!
Sustainable living means reducing your impact on the environment, but it also means making small changes in your everyday life that can have a big impact on your health. Here are three ways going green and living a green lifestyle can improve your health:
1. You’ll have more clarity, less brain fog, and improved mental health. Living sustainably reduces stress, anxiety, and reduces the detox load on your body and brain. According to the IPBES report and multiple studies including a recent study published by Psychiatry Research, there is a link between air pollutants and mental illnesses such as depression, dementia, anxiety, and suicide. Air pollution, among other environmental threats, is not only harmful physically through damage to our lungs, liver, etc., but also mentally.
2. You’ll feel healthier overall. Sustainable living means consuming less processed sustainable foods, eating real food that is sourced from plants free of pesticides, animals raised on pastures, and farming methods that take into consideration the land. Your body will have the right type of nutrients it needs, and our soil will have the nutrients it needs to flourish and maintain longevity.
3. You’ll have lower rates of sickness and disease. The products, not just the food you buy impact your health. Your body and skin breathe in and absorbs what you surround yourself with in your home. From carpets and paints that emit VOCs, furniture made out of particle board that off-gasses formaldehyde, housewares made from toxic plastics to chemical laden cleaning supplies, they all cloud your respiratory, overload your liver, and accumulate over time in your body.
So, how can we make a change, and truly start practicing sustainability that makes a difference? What are some ways to be more eco-friendly?
Think about what you typically do daily, and the items you use frequently. Using a reusable drinking bottle is great, but there are so many other items that we frequently use that are made of harmful synthetic materials with toxic chemicals. Once we’re done with those items, we generally throw them in the garbage, they’re off to wastelands where they cannot naturally decompose back into the Earth’s soil. A lot of times these trash piles are burned to free up space in the wastelands, releasing those toxic chemical fumes into our atmosphere, polluting the air we breathe, wreaking havoc on our ecosystem, and contributing to the consequences of global warming.
I understand not everyone can afford to spend thousands of dollars to have the latest model of a hybrid or electric car or put solar panels on their homes. So please don’t let that deter you from transitioning to a more green lifestyle. You can stick with a budget that works for you and you can slowly begin to make more Earth-friendly shopping decisions one product at a time. It’s not always easy to make the changes but making even small changes can have a big impact on your life, your home, and the world around you.
Here are tips for going green and some of the easiest ways to be more eco-friendly and start living a more sustainable lifestyle today:
1. Buy local produce and food. Buying things that are grown or made nearby means less transportation is required, which means less pollution in the air and water. First, supporting local businesses helps them stay in business! When you buy local sustainable food, you’re supporting your community and keeping your money in circulation within it, which helps support local farmers and businesses. Second, when you buy from those farmers and businesses, they can reinvest in their farms and communities, which means more opportunities for jobs—and less money leaving town. Lastly, when you eat locally grown products, less transportation is required, so there’s less carbon dioxide emitted into our air. So next time you’re at the grocery store or farmer’s market, choose something that was grown close to home to go green!
2. Swap out harmful plastic products for items made with earth-friendly materials. Take yoga mats for example – there are so many stylish, colorful, and eye-catching varieties out there, which makes us want to buy them, but nobody thinks about what regular yoga mats are made of. They contain BPA’s, harsh plastics, lab-manufactured materials, and other toxic chemicals. So just think of how much our skin and lungs make contact with the yoga mat when practicing yoga, exercising, or meditating. These toxins are making contact with our body’s largest organ while we are practicing! All it takes is simply making the smarter decision to switch to an environmentally friendly cork yoga mat, which is safe for you and your family, made of earth-friendly moisture-resistant cork, free of BPA’s, PVA’s, plastics, and made of all-natural materials. You don’t realize how many of our everyday items are really toxic for us until we do a little research and open our minds to all of the eco-friendly home and fitness products that do exist so that we can live a more sustainable lifestyle daily.
3. Ditch fast fashion and shop from sustainable slow fashion clothing stores. Sustainable slow fashion is not just about cutting down on how many clothes we buy—it also means cutting down on how much waste is produced in the process of making those clothes. You can shop for fabrics that are sustainable such as linen, hemp, organic cotton, and bamboo. You can help reduce waste in landfills by investing in pieces that will last longer than one season. You can recycle them by donating them or having a clothing swap party. You’ll feel good while looking good knowing that you’re making smart sustainable choices when it comes to your wardrobe.
4. Shop secondhand. When you buy used clothes, furniture, or other items, you’re not only helping out the environment by keeping those items out of landfills, but you’re also saving money. Win-win. Plus, shopping secondhand is fun! You can find some really unique pieces and treasures that are usually not available in stores. I always get compliments on vintage furniture pieces, jewelry, and clothes that I find at thrift stores.
5. Turn off the lights. Turning off the lights is a simple way to take part in the Sustainable Movement and create a more eco-friendly home. By turning off your lights when you leave a room, you are saving energy and helping to protect the environment. Two of the least energy-efficient types of lighting to use less of in your home are incandescent light bulbs and halogen light bulbs. Try switching to LED bulbs, they use up to 90% less power, have a longer lifespan, and definitely make your home more eco-friendly. Another way to take part is by using lighting controls such as motion sensors, timers, and dimmers to help reduce your energy consumption by automatically controlling your lights efficiently. And, of course, opening up your blinds, and curtains to allow natural sunlight to bring light into the room is a way to create a more eco-friendly home.
To take energy efficiency a step further, try going green by using an electric kettle instead of boiling water over a stovetop or using an electric burner—it’s much more energy-efficient!
6. Skip bottled water. Bottled water is expensive, inconvenient, and damaging to your health and the health of the environment. Plastic water bottles leach chemicals like PET or BPA which are endocrine disrupters that negatively impact normal hormone function. The manufacturing of water bottles uses fossil fuels, and releases tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming and air pollution. Water bottles also end up in the ocean killing over a million marine creatures each year. Instead of spending your money on bottles of water try making it a habit to bring reusable water bottles with you when you go out instead of buying single-use plastic bottles. Go green and try investing in reusable water bottles made from glass, ceramic or stainless steel. You can also install a water filter on your tap so that all the water in your house is clean and safe to drink.
7. Make or Cook your own stuff. It doesn’t have to be anything complicated either; think about what things you use most often and try making them yourself instead of buying them from the store. For example, if you love smoothies but don’t want all those extra calories and sugars from store-bought yogurt cups then make your own using plain Greek yogurt and fruit instead! You’ll reduce plastic waste and improve your health.
So, what does sustainable living mean, and how can you help secure a better future for the next generation? As you can see, we only scratched the surface, and these are big questions and the answers to them are sometimes a little complex and can be complicated. However, the perfect place to start is by simply asking how we might make the world of tomorrow kinder to the earth and then taking one small step toward that mission to be part of the eco-movement. I believe that we all have a hand in deciding the destiny of our lives, our homes, and our environment. How will you help secure a better future for your children or humanity? By putting the lessons of sustainability into practice today and looking for ways to be more eco-friendly daily.
In the end, living a sustainable lifestyle means taking note of your own habits and what’s going on around you. It’s about thinking about your sustainable choices, your purchasing power, your health, and being more aware of the positive impact or negative consequences that they may have. It’s about finding ways to improve and making the active choice to work towards them. The best part is that it’s never too late to start. Put some of these methods into practice, see what you learn about yourself or others, and then keep going from there. That way, living a sustainable lifestyle becomes an exercise in constant growth—and that’s something everyone should be able to get behind.
What are your tips for going green, ways to live a greener life, and how to be part of the eco-movement? How do you live out an eco-friendly lifestyle and maintain an eco-friendly home? What are some of your ways to be more eco-friendly?
How to Be Part of the Sustainable Movement is ultimately up to you.
